


Friends

by EzzyDean



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 02:11:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Anger and jealousy don't suit you, Takao."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends

To start off the day he had spilled a pot of water all over the floor and had nearly been late to work.  Then two of his coworkers called in: they were down with the flu and he was sure he would be next.  That left him alone to man a three person job.  He wound up being late to meet Midorima for their weekly late afternoon get together - a particularly unforgiving customer and heavy traffic had set him behind almost forty minutes.  Luckily Midorima was free all afternoon or they would have had to reschedule.  Hurrying from the train station he cursed under his breath as his shoe came untied for the third time that day.  He glanced at his watch before fixing his shoe.  It sucked that the most convenient place for them to meet was over a half hour away from either of their work places and close to an hour away from their apartments.

After the half hour train ride Midorima would have had to wait at the little diner for almost twenty minutes before he would have even received Takao’s first text message.  And he would have been at the diner at least ten minutes before they had planned to meet.  Which meant that by the time Takao rushed down the last block towards the diner Midorima would have been sitting there for at least forty-five minutes to an hour.  

Takao braced himself as he stepped up to the door.  Shin-chan would see him step through the door and pointedly look from Takao to his watch before tilting his head ever so slightly as Takao hurried over to the table.  He would spout a minute or two worth of apologies as Shin-chan would wave the waitress over and give her their orders.  Then he would turn those green eyes towards Takao and sigh with an almost forced casual “You know I don’t like lurking in these places by myself” or “We could have just rescheduled or gone somewhere closer to your work.”  Then they would fall into their easy pattern of conversation and relax.  

He could really use that easiness right now.

The bell chimed as he entered and Takao gave the waitress a smile when she gestured towards Shin-chan and his usual booth.  He kept the fake feeling expression on his face as he turned toward the booth and then faltered.  Shin-chan wasn’t waiting for him with an irritated expression.  He wasn’t looking up at the door at all.  He was focused on the person sitting across the table from him in Takao’s usual spot.  The corner of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly and he let out an amused huff at something the person across from him had said.

If the red hair, carefully tousled in the latest style, hadn’t been enough of a clue of who Shin-chan was talking to the giant with the light purple hair was a dead giveaway.  He was kneeling on the seat of the booth behind Midorima, resting his chin on the soft green hair as he draped one arm over Midorima’s shoulder and took bites of the dessert in front of the redhead off the plate.  The only reason Murasakibara would be lounging around in a place like this was if he was with Akashi.  

Just what Takao wanted to deal with after spending the afternoon listening to customers complaining non stop over one nonexistent crisis or another.

“Shin-chan.  Sorry I got held up.”

“Ah, Takao.” Midorima glanced at his watch.  “You’re here already?  You made good time.”  Akashi signaled the waitress and Takao stood beside the table in silence as she hurried over with Akashi’s bill.

"Well, Shintarou.  Since it seems your friend has finally arrived we shall take our leave."

"You do that," Takao muttered as Akashi stood.  For someone who was nearly the same height as him Akashi always made him feel like he was the shorter one and it was frustrating.

"What was that, Takao Kazunari?"  He didn't know what came over him when he opened his mouth - the use of his full name by Akashi in that all knowing ever irritating tone, the stress of the day, or just his lack of caring anymore.

"I said, yes, do that.  Please do leave us alone.  Shin-chan and I haven't had a lot of time lately to meet up and we're already off to a late start so please go."  Takao slid into the spot that Akashi had just vacated and ignored the evaluating looks he was being given.  He missed the smile that crept onto Akashi's face when he looked from Takao to Midorima.  Then it was gone.

"Come along, Atsushi.  It seems Shintarou has been waiting for a very important person.  Until next time."  Akashi handed the waitress some money on his way past the counter and waved off her attempts to give him his change.

“What were you guys so into talking about?”  Shin-chan signaled the waitress over and ordered for them while Takao stared at the empty dessert plate.

 

Then he had shown up at Midorima’s apartment the next day, full of irritated energy despite not having slept at all the night before.

"Why are you so concerned about me lately?  About what I'm doing or who I'm with?"  Midorima studied him and lightly tapped the back of his phone with one long finger.  It was a sign of his irritation at Takao's actions the day before and it was a sign of how well Takao knew him that he could practically hear a sentence in each tightly controlled tap.

 

_tap_

You're acting strange.  

_tap_

You're being over dramatic.

_tap_

This isn't like you.

_tap_

What am I supposed to do with you?

_tap_

Why are you acting this way?

 

"Because I love you, you idiot!"  Takao choked out.  The tapping stopped and Midorima's eyes narrowed dangerously behind his glasses.  Takao backed up until his shoulders hit the wall, eyes wide under his slightly messy bangs.

Silence seemed to reign eternal as the words that he had ripped from his throat and threw at Midorima sank in. Closing his eyes as the world shifted under him Takao sank to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees and hiding his face.  What he had said, well shouted, was the truth.  The painful pumping of his heart and the way his fingers tingled as they dug into his arms confirmed it.

The heat in his chest when he was around Shin-chan was something he had become used to over the years.  Sometimes it was like a warm flower blossoming and spreading through his veins and other times it was a white hot steel band crushing his heart and lungs.  Takao rubbed the knuckles of his right hand against his chest, digging in just above where his heart felt like it was on fire, as the seconds ticked by.  He had always known that he held a special place in his mind and heart open for Shin-chan and that it meant that he probably had feelings for the other man.  But he had never really thought about acting on those feelings.

Being a friend to Shin-chan, being someone he could rely on, someone he could trust.  That was all Takao had ever needed in the years since they had come together as teammates.  But he may have just ruined everything all because of one stupid moment of jealousy.  A moment that had flared even hotter than the steady heat of being with Midorima.

Even if he did love Shin-chan he would never have wanted to tell him in a fit of anger.  Those words did not deserve to be said with such an unsuitable tone.   _He_ didn't deserve to be spoken to with such an ugly tone.  Not when the whole problem was simply in Takao's head anyway.

"Anger and jealousy don't suit you, Takao."  The tapping had returned but this time it was a quick succession of four fingers, pinky to pointer... and Takao could still hear the words that weren't being spoken.

 

_tap tap tap tap_

You are being ridiculous.

_tap tap tap tap_

Why do you let silly things bother you?

_tap tap tap tap_

You should know better than that.

_tap tap tap tap_

You should know me better than that.

 

"And how would you know what suits me, Shin-chan?"

"Because we’ve known each other for years.  We're friends."  Midorima’s voice was steady and sure as he spoke from his seat at the table.  If he was fazed at all by Takao’s sudden confession he was doing a surprisingly good job at not showing it.  “I know you had a long day yesterday and were in a foul mood.  You still are which means you probably didn’t sleep.  And I know that part of your mood has to do with Akashi and Murasakibara keeping me company at the diner.  But you know that I have no romantic feelings towards either Akashi or Murisakibara.  They're just-"  Takao cut him off, finally raising his eyes from his knees.

" _Friends_?"  Takao didn't want to be an asshole.  Didn’t want to talk to Shin-chan with such a rude tone in his voice.  But the band of heat across his chest was burning him alive and if he didn’t do something soon he was afraid it would finally consume him.  “That’s quite the amusing word.  When we first started playing together I didn’t think you really even knew what the word meant.”

“I didn’t.  I do now.  Thanks, largely in part, to you.”

“I don’t just wanna be your friend forever, Shin-chan.”  Takao hid his head in his arms once again.  “That’s the problem.”

Midorima’s thumb tapped an impatient rhythm on the edge of his table as he studied Takao.  Then it stopped.

“And you called me an idiot?”  Midorima let out a frustrated sigh.  “You are my friend, Takao.  But you have never been just my friend.”  That band of heat tightened across his chest even as the flower of warmth blossomed through his veins.  “I would have thought that you, of all people, knew me well enough to see that.”

“So then what am I to you?”

“You’re you.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means I love you too and I probably have for a long time.”  Takao’s head snapped up and he looked in surprise at the pink flush across Midorima’s cheeks.  “I just didn’t realize you needed me to say it.  I figured with the way you seem to know what I want to say without me actually saying it you knew already.  So I was content to simply be your friend.”

“Shin-chan?”

“Yes, Kazunari?”  The pink flush turned red as he softly said the name and met Takao’s eyes.

“I love you.”

“Go lay down and get some sleep.”  Takao laughed and finally stood up.  He wobbled a little as he made his way into the hallway.

“Will Shin-chan come to bed with me?”

“Maybe later.  Go rest.”  It wasn’t until his head hit the pillow - no way was he staying on that lumpy couch if he could get away with sleeping in Shin-chan’s soft bed - that his brain fully processed what Shin-chan had said.  But by then he had already started drifting off.

 

[Akashi: By now no doubt the two of you have expressed your feelings for each other.  Congratulations.  I will let Takao off this time but should he ever use that tone with me again he will regret it.  No matter his relationship with you.]

[Shintarou: Thank you.  I assume this is your way of approving?]

[Akashi: Don’t press your luck, Shintarou.]

 

[UNKNOWN: Takao Kazunari.  Despite your lack of manners and unpleasant tone I appreciate and admire your spirit.  Know this.  Shintarou is a dear person to me.  You don’t want to hurt him in any way.]

[UNKNOWN: Make Mido-chin happy got it?]

 

**Author's Note:**

> Anon prompt of TakaMido: Takao accidentally confesses when he's jealous


End file.
